London Underground Louder than Ever Leading to Rise in Complaints 

Londoners aren’t too fond of noise on the Tube. Generally, people of London aren’t big talkers, don’t like the sound of loud vibrations rumbling through the carriages and absolutely cannot stand when trains screech and grind their way along the tracks. And they have all their reasons to feel so. 

The city’s subway system, a 400km stretch of tracks, causes anxiety. Overcrowding and anti-social behaviour are the biggest irritations, as a recent survey hints. Next is too much noise. 

Research by EAVE – an agency committed to the prevention of avoidable hearing loss – uncovers just how serious the Tube noise is. 

More than 37 London Underground routes emit noise levels in excess of 85 decibels – the point at which noise is generally considered unsafe. Even so, on the section of track between North Greenwich and Canary Wharf on the Jubilee line, it has recorded peak noise levels of 105dB. That’s similar to a helicopter taking off next to you. 

Whether this is harming Londoners is unclear. Research on the impact of the Underground on public health is difficult to find. London’s main transportation line noise levels tend to last for only a short period, such as when the wheels of the carriage hit the rails during the turn. There’s little concern, however, that ongoing traffic noise can damage human health. According to WHO, railway traffic that reaches 56dB can cause “significant health effects” for those working or living nearby, ranging from tinnitus to sleep disturbance. Other noise-related health troubles are less evident. Recent findings reckon that 245,000 Europeans suffer from heart disease caused by considerable exposure to noise pollution – noise-induced stress as the main cause.

In the meantime, some preliminary research shows that it’s improbable that noise experienced on the city’s Tube can cause hearing damage. To be dangerous to the human hearing, the noise emitted needs to be a blend of very high, for instance, 80dBA- over eight hours daily, and this situation needs to happen on a daily basis.

Research points out that instantaneous hearing damage requires noise levels only experienced in very loud explosions, but not everyone agrees with this. In April, Londoners came up with a noise map of the London Tube, using its noise monitors, only to find that the average noise level on some lines frequently surpasses 80 decibels and at times reaches well past 90- decibels. While travellers are unlikely to spend a whole working day on a Tube journey, some hearing loss prevention agencies still think that Transport for London should be more proactive in addressing the matter. 

For example, they required special signage that warns people that they’re passing a very loud area and that they should wear hearing protection if possible. A lot of people seem to be suffering from tinnitus – a ringing noise in the ears triggered by loud noise. You don’t even need to be an expert to understand the level of danger that ongoing exposure to 100 decibels of screaming noise can do to someone with very sensitive hearing. 

Researchers at the University of London Ear Institute are examining whether the noise levels enforced on the Underground should be revised to impose tougher limits. 

Recent policies are meant only for the hours within which you are at work. But nobody turns their hearing off the second they leave the office. Some hear all day, and others, all night. And so, all the sound exposure within a 24-hour period contributes to the potential risk of hearing loss. For the same reason, additional guidelines have actually been made for those just going about their everyday business. 

For example, WHO recommends lower limits that are more relevant for people living nearby than for Tube passengers and workers. 

Tube Strike: RMT members to cut speed by half due to worryingly “noisy” tracks

 Some Underground trains will function at “reduced speed” in a bid to reduce “excessive track noise” during industrial action. 

RMT members halted the action, and the lead transport officials had agreed to a list of union demands after the strike. These demands include applying speed restrictions on multiple Tube lines to cut noise impact. 

They also agreed on a rail-fastening system installed to help reduce the noise in a home above the tracks, which Transport for London say in some areas made the passing through tunnels louder, will be removed. 

The Last Resort 

For London commuters, a lot of engineering work and maintenance seems to be the answer. These solutions involve reducing the speed of trains, rail replacement or improvement, lubrication, grinding or smoothing out the contact surfaces between track and wheels, upgrading the sound insulation of walls and windows and even installing noise cancelling to eliminate loud and difficult to remove hums and squeals. 

What’s more, a London-based company, Eave, which was developing a unique hearing conservation system using digital headsets and noise mapping technology, has taken the stance in a bid to reduce the negative impact of noise. 

Eave has developed a groundbreaking solution to the noise problem of London, combining creative product design and Smart Technology to tackle the problem of hearing damage in the transportation and construction industry. Eave’s new system uses “hear through” technology that allows wearers to continue to hear surrounding sound and communicate with others without removing their safety ear defenders, not only providing excellent hearing protection but also radically improving the safety of Tube commuters and workers.